Honestly, all the explanation said by the OP i dont think this is an act of scamming ignorant individuals because the scenario was pretty cool and even the most smart person in the wirld may fall for it before understanding the whole scenarios.
@OP, it good you share this situation but i think the forum still need you to provide the screen shot of you conversation with the scammer for proper evidence.
Unm.. do you think random people who asks you to deposit $100 to give you easy money is a genuine person?
Imagine you are the gamble site mod, you want to have 50-50 by making someone win the gamble in your site without any first deposit from him ($100 deposit is because the account get frozen). If you have this kind of chance, would you ask random people in the world to help you out? Or would you ask your real life friend or even do it yourself?
Think!